Sneak-Preview Karl Lagerfeld's Latest Chanel Film Before It Debuts in Dallas Next Month

"It's America who rediscovered her, so this is a thank-you," Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld told WWD about his new film, The Return. "Without America, she would have closed the entire operation."

Set to debut in full immediately preceding the Chanel Metiers d'Art show December 10 in Dallas, The Return is a cinematic retelling of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's fashion comeback in postwar Europe in the 1950s.

Actress Geraldine Chaplin plays the iconic designer, Chanel muse Amanda Harlech plays Vogue editor Bettina Ballard, and Rupert Everett plays an American television journalist in the 30-minute film, which is set in Chanel's legendary Rue Cambon workspace, where she presented her 1954 collection—a collection that was widely derided by Chanel's native French press.

It was only when American stores such as Neiman Marcus started placing orders that Chanel's career as a designer was secured.